Strong start in the Healthy Ageing Tour

4 April 2018

Boels-Dolmans Cycling Team is off to a good start in the Healthy Ageing Tour. The stage one individual time trial was won by Anna van der Breggen, two seconds ahead of Chantal Blaak, who finished in second place.

Despite Van der Breggen’s winning ride, she did have to overcome some obstacles during her ride. She lost one of her handlebars halfway through the ride.

“I had some bike problems today, but my legs felt really good,” Van der Breggen said. “The first part of the time trial was going very well. I was less fortunate in the second half, I lost half of my handlebars then.”

Van der Breggen and Blaak have a strong position going into the rest of the week, with a ten- and eight-second advantage on their nearest rival respectively.

"Of course we’re off to a good start here with first and second place in the time trial,” said Van der Breggen. "That’s important, because we’ve already won time on our competition. I hope for a bit of wind in the stages to come, so we can create even bigger time gaps. We're going to have to wait and see. But the beginning is nice.

By taking the yellow leader’s jersey, Van der Breggen will feel the pressure of leading the GC from stage two tomorrow. However, that’s not something she is worried about.

"It’s something we kind of already expected, so that doesn’t make much difference," concluded Van der Breggen.

The Healthy Aging Tour will continue tomorrow with a 131.3-kilometer road race. In Grootegast, three local laps of 14.4 kilometer have to be covered before the finish line is reached. The stage starts at 1pm CET and the race can be followed live via http://www.podium.tv/nl/live#mce_temp_url#. Follow the race on Twitter via #HAT2018.